Social media maven, influencer, boss and founder of PHAT Girl Fresh, Maui Bigelow, is taking over Atlanta for five days with upscale events throughout the city.
The ninth annual Life Styled Honors is a “world-renowned celebration of style, community, beauty and brilliance,” and its game-changing master of ceremony plans to offer participants “an ingenious meld of fashion, beauty and empowerment.”
Maui, 44, will honor notable Black female influencers in five categories during the five-day extravaganza. Past honorees include Lisa Price, founder of Carol’s Daughter; Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement; Tamika Palmer, Breonna Taylor’s mother; GooGoo Atkins, stylist and on-air personality; Mariah Huq, executive producer and on-air personality; and Jasmine Elder, creator of Jibri.
On April 15, Maui announced the extended and leveled-up Life Styled Honors on Instagram. It’s complete with an itinerary of events. The down-to-earth southern belle expressed that the honors were a labor of love for her and her goal was to celebrate women and womanhood- individually and collectively.
“Since about age 10, I have known that God was grooming me for something different. I didn’t know exactly what but I knew it was greater [than] I understood, and I knew it was about women and girls. I now know that is purpose. I play around and talk a lot of shit but my heart is filled with love and a tremendous desire to offer light to the world especially women. Even when the messaging is laced with profanity, it’s all love.”
She continued, “I know that we (women) aren’t always met with the energy we offer or deserve which is what motivated me to start Life Styled Honors. Life Styled Honors is about so many different communities of women because the fact is, there is no one way to be a woman. This event is about pushing past my comfort zone and hopping out of the box that society placed me in. This event is about celebrating women who contribute so much but many times receive so little. This event is about freedom; the freedom to live beyond boundaries, the freedom to live out loud, and the freedom to live unapologetically.”
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Lane Bryant, Carol’s Daughter, Hype Hair Magazine, and the Breonna Taylor Foundation are sponsoring the gala.
The kick-off event for the midweek festivities is Cocktails & Karaoke on April 20 at the Suite Food Lounge from 6-10 pm.
This year’s honorees are powerhouses – Nzinga Imani, Nse Ufot, Ramona O, Kenyatta Jones, Bee Marie and J. Ivory. Jessie Woo will also be in attendance. Maui is also doing it big with other upscale activities like the Black Women Are Lit Dinner, Curves En Blanc and The Beautiful Brown Girls Brunch (Sneaker Edition).
When asked about how she sets herself apart from the overly-saturated influencer space, Maui made it clear that she’s in a league of her own.
“I show up and offer myself. I show up confident because I know that no matter the space, no matter the other individuals in that space I add to the room because there is only one Maui Bigelow. My light shines differently even among other lights that shine bright. My light is specific, and you can only receive it from me and my perspective adds unique value.”
The proud Georgia peach, known for her bold red lips, blonde locs and designer sunnies, has been in the digital game since 2008– before Instagram was a thing. The Iron City native built her platform on creating a “path for women to emerge and thrive.”
As the former curator of PHAT Girl Fresh, a platform that blended feminism with social media, fashion, beauty and culture, Maui understood that Black women were not a monolith and she filled a much-needed void in the digital space. The Albany State alum also became a highly-respected voice to sisters through media outlets like Madame Noire and Hello Beautiful.
Because the good sis’ reach extended to thousands of women on her platform through a thoughtful approach to sharing her experiences in healing, personal transformations, social change work, plus style and beauty– she has been featured by Associated Press and in Buzzfeed, Yahoo, Ebony and Seventeen Magazine.
The Life Styled Honors encompasses the embodiment of how Maui shows up in the world.
This year’s event will take place from April 20-24. Tickets are still available.
